Nipmuc DECA: 21st Century Skills on Display

Nipmuc junior Chris Desilets who
was recently elected to the
state-level DECA leadership board.

One of the most significant challenges faced by today's high schools is providing opportunities to develop the skills needed by students for life in college, careers, and the community in the 21st century. The movement toward teaching and assessing 21st century skills does not ask schools to abandon the content of each curriculum. Rather, it hopes to see students applying their learning in new ways. Our schools can no longer be content to see what our students know. We must ask our students not only what they understand, but also how they can apply their learning, what they can create with their knowledge, and how they use learning to adapt to new challenges.

At Nipmuc Regional, our teachers are working to define the 21st century skills that are most important to our students. This work begins by looking the areas of our curricula that already stress the application of these skills. One of the ways that students regularly have the opportunity to apply their learning to real world situations is through Nipmuc's DECA program. DECA is an international business and marketing education organization. The mission of DECA is to "prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management in high schools and colleges around the globe."

DECA was brought to Nipmuc ten years ago through the efforts of Mr. Gary Perras. Mr. Perras has been instrumental in helping the program to grow into one of the showcase programs at Nipmuc. In 2002, the first year that Nipmuc hosted a DECA team, the school had a modest membership of 26 students. This year, along with help from Mr. Timothy Mooradian, Mr. Perras has seen the current enrollment grow to 163 students, nearly 23% of the entire school population. As DECA students, they have the opportunity to design and implement service projects, business ventures, and entrepreneurial plans. After completing their projects, students have the chance to compete against other students in the state.

Earlier this month, 103 Nipmuc students spent three days in Boston putting their projects up against those of their peers from high schools across Massachusetts. In addition to competing, they have the chance to collaborate with other students, listen to guest speakers, and apply what they have learned in the classroom to real world situations. Once again, our students represented Nipmuc Regional High School wonderfully. Thirty-five Nipmuc students were identified as finalists in their area of competition. An additional twelve students placed high enough to earn the chance to compete at the international competition taking place in Salt Lake City on April 28 - May 1. In addition to sending student to international competition for the tenth straight year, Nipmuc is also proud to have a student, junior Chris Desilets, elected to the state level DECA leadership board.

I look forward to featuring our students' successes and highlighting the achievement of DECA. This program not only continues to grow, but also provides a tremendous example of the way we can bring 21st century skills to our students.

Click here for the Milford Daily News coverage of Nipmuc DECA.

Check the list below to see how our students performed at the state DECA competition.